‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite …

‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite a lot, if the council took it to the High Court. If ‘the calibre of the legal advice that the council and its officers are receiving internally and externally’ is toxic, perhaps the council could limit their loss by terminating (or at the very least transferring out of harm’s way) the internal adviser responsible for this debacle, and deducting the council’s costs from their pension package. External advisers could be difficult to sue, but it would be reassuring to have it confirmed that no more advice would be sought from that source.

Robert Wakeham also commented

Shouldn’t your ‘interpretation of law’ read ‘misinterpretation of law’? You’re mixing threads, but no, I wouldn’t be calling for a fatwa on politicians; whoever ‘managed’ the Kilcreggan ferry fiasco in SPT should be given the bum’s rush, and if someone in Transport Scotland bungled the Northern Isles contract they should be held accountable. It’s surely reasonable to expect people to be adequately qualified to adequately execute their job, and you could be picking a bad time to suggest giving rewards for not screwing up – witness recent shareholder’s meetings, and the furore over London bus drivers threatening strike action unless they get extra money for doing their jobs during the Olympics. p.s. in some places LOL is translated as ‘Lordy oh Lordy’ – take your pick.

Sorry if I hit a nerve, JayC – perfection’s got nothing to do with it – why are you defending the advisers who’ve dropped the council in it, when the council’s struggling for want of finance? Or do you think the council’s a glorified job creation scheme for the senior staff, and anything goes? A case of the ‘untouchables’?

Recent comments by Robert Wakeham

Analysis of Gourock-Dunoon ferry services confirms imperative for changeIt’s difficult to imagine an excuse for the performance of the ‘movers and the shakers’ in SPT, but surely there’s need for reform of the way in which integration of passenger transport in this area of the country is handled. And the only people who can really do that, across various local authorities and public transport bodies, are surely our Holyrood MSPs. Surely, this time of rising political temperatures is exactly the right time to start shouting from the rooftops about this crummy state of affairs. Or should the European authorities be asked for help in sorting out this Scottish mess?

SNP Conference: foundations for one party state cemented in placeSo, ‘Machmaolain’, taking stock, you think (not without reason) that there was corruption in the Strathclyde Regional Council, and that there’s corruption in Westminster (maybe there is, if the reports on the antics of Boris the Bounder are anything to go by) – but you seem to believe that voting for the SNP guarantees an administration in Holyrood as pure as the driven snow. I wonder.

17 Responses to ‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite …

‘How much has this cost?’ – presumably quite a lot, if the council took it to the High Court. If ‘the calibre of the legal advice that the council and its officers are receiving internally and externally’ is toxic, perhaps the council could limit their loss by terminating (or at the very least transferring out of harm’s way) the internal adviser responsible for this debacle, and deducting the council’s costs from their pension package. External advisers could be difficult to sue, but it would be reassuring to have it confirmed that no more advice would be sought from that source.

What a wonderful idea and just to balance things up when the Council wins a dispute the advisor could be given a huge bonus. Do you honestly expect a local authority to win every case it contests? It must be good to be utterly perfect like yourself. I’m surprised you didnt make a bigger mark on the world.

Sorry if I hit a nerve, JayC – perfection’s got nothing to do with it – why are you defending the advisers who’ve dropped the council in it, when the council’s struggling for want of finance? Or do you think the council’s a glorified job creation scheme for the senior staff, and anything goes? A case of the ‘untouchables’?

No nerves here bt if you want to penalise poor performance lets rewards good performance! The suggestion that an employees pension should be altered as a result of “interpretation of law” is ridiculous. Based on both your and Coracles thinking then I assume you’ll be shouting for Alex Salmond /Keith Brown to go if the contractor challenging the Serco Ferries tender award is successful? After all we all want consistency and transparency! As DC would say LOL.

Shouldn’t your ‘interpretation of law’ read ‘misinterpretation of law’? You’re mixing threads, but no, I wouldn’t be calling for a fatwa on politicians; whoever ‘managed’ the Kilcreggan ferry fiasco in SPT should be given the bum’s rush, and if someone in Transport Scotland bungled the Northern Isles contract they should be held accountable. It’s surely reasonable to expect people to be adequately qualified to adequately execute their job, and you could be picking a bad time to suggest giving rewards for not screwing up – witness recent shareholder’s meetings, and the furore over London bus drivers threatening strike action unless they get extra money for doing their jobs during the Olympics. p.s. in some places LOL is translated as ‘Lordy oh Lordy’ – take your pick.

It might be illuminating to see the Council’s record in such cases over, say, the past ten years. There has been , I suspect, a policy of attempting to “face down” possible litigants with the threat of expensive High Court action. Of course we do not then hear of the consequences when the bluff is called and the people of Argyll & Bute pick up the tab.

As a Council taxpayer in Argyll & Bute and I suspect you are also, I do not expect this Council to continue wasting our money in court cases that they quite obviously cannot win. This case bares all the hallmarks of one I have just won against them(another waste of money). The time has come for the Council Officer/s who are responsible for filling Brodies bank account with our Council tax money to be exposed and forced to explain there actions. This blatant misuse of money in a private business would be treated as commercial suicide. However it seems that these officers are left to make there own decisions and waste Council tax money in a cavalier fashion without any of our Councillors being fully informed of what is going on and the likelihood of success. Lets hope our new administration put an end to this and the money wasted is utilised on far more important cash strapped services. This may even lead to the children in Lochgilphead getting a decent school dinner..

LOL. Me has preference for Dave Cameron’s reported use as LOTS OF LOVE. What we all need, particularly directed toward our new administration entrusted by us, the electorate, to bring forth better local government.